Category Archives: Quotes of the Week

And Samuel served before the face of the Lord, a boy belted with an ephod of linen. And his mother would make him a small shirt, which she brought him on the specified days, when she would go up with her husband to burn the solemn offering.

And Eli blessed Elkanah and his wife, and said to him, May the Lord repay you seed of this woman, for the gift which she has made to the Lord. And they departed to their own place.

…

And the boy Samuel grew in wisdom and stature, and was favored by the Lord and the people.

Colossians 3.12-17

Be therefore clothed like the chosen ones of God, holy and beloved, the gut of mercy, gentleness, modesty, leniency, patience, supporting each other and forgiving each other, if any shall have a quarrel against any other—as also Christ has forgiven you, do so also yourselves. And above all these things is love, which is the chain of perfection; and may the peace of God reign in your hearts, in which also you have been called in one body; and be thankful. May the word of Christ dwell in you richly, in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing each other, in songs and praises, and spiritual chanting in grace, singing in your heart to the Lord. And whatever you may do in word or deed, do all things in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks as well to God the father by him.

Luke 2.41-53

And every year his parents would go to Jerusalem, in the days of the passover feast. And twelve years having passed, they went up to Jerusalem, according to the custom of the days of the feast. And the days being completed, as they were returning, the boy Jesus remained in Jerusalem, and his parents did not notice. But they, assuming him to be with the group, traveled a day’s journey and looked for him among their relatives and among their acquaintances. And not finding him they returned to Jerusalem seeking him. And it so happened after three days that they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, listening to them, and questioning them. And all who heard him were dumbfounded at his understanding, and his answers. And seeing him, they marveled, and his mother said to him, “Son, why have you done this to us? Behold, your father and I were searching for you, sorrowing.” And he said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Or did you not know that I must be in these things which are of my father’s?” And they did not understand the word which he spoke to them.

And he went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject to them. And his mother kept all these words in her heart. And Jesus grew in wisdom and age and grace with God and men.

Interesting the similarity of wording between Luke 2.53 and 1 Kings 2.26…probably intentional, as Luke consciously imitated the style of the Greek translation of the Old Testament.

And you, Bethlehem (Ephratah),
are small among the thousands of Judah;
but out of you one shall go forth from me
who shall be a ruler in Israel,
whose going-out is from the beginning,
from the days of eternity.
For this reason he shall give them until the time
in which the laboring woman gives birth,
and the rest of his brothers
will return to the sons of Israel.
And he shall stand, and lead them
in the strength of the Lord,
in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God;
and they will be turned,
for he shall now be greatened to the ends of the earth.
And of him there will be peace…

Hebrews 10.1-10

For the law, having but a shadow of the good things yet to come, and not the image itself of the matters, can never make the comers perfect with those sacrificial victims which they offered continually year after year; or would they not have ceased being offered, since those who had sacrificed to be cleansed would no longer have conscience of the sins? But in them there is a commemoration made of the sins every year. For the blood of bulls and goats cannot bear away sins; 5 for which reason coming into the world he says,

A sacrifice and an offering you have not desired,but you prepared me a body;nor have whole burnt sacrifices for sin pleased you,but I said, Behold, it is I, God—at the top of the book it has been written of me—here to do your will.

And when he said above,

Sacrifice and offeringand whole burnt sacrifices for sinyou did not desirenor did they please you—

which were offered according to the law—But I said, Behold, it is I, God, here to do your will—he bears away the former to establish the latter, in which will we are made holy by the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

Luke 1.39-55

And Mary, rising up, in those days went up into the mountain land with diligence, into a city of Judah, and entered into the house of Zacharias and saluted Elisabeth. And it so happened that as Elisabeth heard Mary’s greeting the baby jumped for joy in her womb.

And Elisabeth was filled with the holy spirit, and cried out at the top of her voice, and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed the fruit of your womb.

“And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, as soon as the voice of your greeting was in my ears, the child in my womb jumped for joy. And blessed is she who believed; for those things that the Lord has said to her shall be accomplished.” And Mary said:

“My soul glorifies the Lord;
and my spirit has exulted in God my savior.
For he has looked upon the humility of his handmaiden;
for behold, henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.
For he has made me great, who is strong,
and holy is his name.
And his mercy will be to generation after generation
of those who fear him.
He has made strength in his arm;
he scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
He has deposed the mighty from their thrones,
and lifted up the humble.
The hungry he fills with good things,
and the rich he sends away empty.
He has supported Israel his servant,
that his mercy may be remembered
(as he spoke to our fathers,
to Abraham and his seed) forever.”

Sorry for the delay. I got burned out from all the other stuff I’ve been doing.

Zephaniah 3.14-20

Sing praises, daughter Zion; rejoice, Israel;
rejoice and exult with all your heart, daughter Jerusalem.
The Lord has borne away your judgment;
he has turned away your enemies.
The Lord, the King of Israel, is in your midst;
you need fear no further harm.
In that day they will say to Jerusalem,
Do not be afraid, Zion; do not let your hands grow weak.
The Lord your God in your midst is mighty; he himself will save you.
He will rejoice over you in gladness,
renew in his love,
exult over you in praise,
as on a festival day,
those of you who sorrow,
that no more will you have rebuke upon them.
Behold, I shall slay all those who will harm you in that time;
and I will cure those who cannot walk,
and those who have been cast out I will gather together;
and I will place them in praise, and in a name,
in all the land of their confusion,
in the time when I shall lead them back,
and in the time when I shall gather them together.
For I will give you into a name,
and into the praise of all the peoples of the earth,
when I shall turn back your captivity before your very eyes-says the Lord.

Philippians 4.4-7

Rejoice in the Lord always; and again, I say, rejoice. May your modesty be made known to all people. The Lord is nearby. Of no matter be worried, but in all prayer and supplication, with giving of thanks, make known your request with God. And may the peace of God, which is beyond all understanding, guard your hearts and your minds, by Christ Jesus.

Luke 3.7-18

Therefore he said to the crowds who went out to be baptized by him, “Seed of vipers! Who warned you to flee the coming wrath? Therefore bring forth fruit worthy of repentance, and do not undertake to say, ‘We have Abraham for a father’, for I say to you, God can raise up sons of Abraham from these stones. And already the axe is held at the roots of the tree; therefore every tree not bearing good fruit shall be cut off, and thrown into fire.”

And the crowd asked him saying, “Then what shall we do?”

And he answered and said to them, “Whoever has two shirts should give to whoever has none, and whoever has food should do likewise.”

And also there came publicans to be baptized, and they said to him, “Master, what shall we do?”

And he said to them, “Require nothing more than is due you.”

And there also questioned him soldiers, saying, “And us, what shall we do?”

And he said to them, “Do not intimidate anyone, nor blackmail them; and be content with your allowance.”

And the people waited, and thought in their hearts about John, if he might not be that Christ. And answering John said to everyone, “I indeed baptize you in water, but there comes a stronger than me, of whom I am not worthy to unfasten his sandal strap; he will baptize you in the holy spirit and fire, whose fan is in his hand, and he will purge his floor, and gather the wheat in his barn, and the chaff burn in inextinguishable fire.” And with many other things he proclaimed the good news to the people.

Behold, I send forth my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before my face; and at once the Lord whom you seek shall come to his temple, and the messenger of the testament which you desire. Behold, he comes, says the Lord of Troops. And who will endure the day of his coming, or who will stand upon seeing him? For it shall be as a refiner’s fire, as a launderer’s lye. And he shall sit as a refiner, and as a purifier of silver; and he shall purge the sons of Levi, smelt them like gold and silver, and they will be offering sacrifices to the Lord in righteousness. And the sacrifice of Judah and Jerusalem shall please the Lord, as in the former days, and as in the ancient years.

Philippians 1.3-11

I give thanks to my God in every memory of you, always in my every prayer for all of you, making the prayer with joy, that you have come into the communion of the gospel from the first day until this time, being convinced of this itself, that the one who began the good work in you will perfect it until the day of Jesus Christ; as it is fitting to me that I should think this of all of you, because I have you in my heart, both in my shackles, and in defense and confirmation of the gospel, as you are all co-partakers with me in grace. For God is my witness how much I have longed you all in the guts of Jesus Christ. And this I pray: that your love may all the greater and greater abound, into the knowing of all discernment, that you may examine those things which stand before you, that you may be sincere; and such that none of you may be a stumbling block in the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

Luke 3.1-6

And in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judaea and Herod tetrarch of Galilee, and Philip his brother tetrarch of the regions of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysania the tetrarch of Abilene, Annas and Caiaphas being high priests, it so happened, the word of the Lord came upon John the son of Zacharias in the desert. And he came into all the countryside by the Jordan preaching the baptism of repentance into the remission of sins, as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, saying,

A voice shouting in the desert:
Prepare the way of the Lord,
make straight his paths.Every valley shall be filled in,
and every mountain and hill brought down,
and the crooked ways shall be straightened,
and the rough flattened,and then shall all flesh see the salvation of God.

Behold, a day is coming—says the Lord—and I will carry out the good word which I have spoken to the house of Israel and to the house of Judah. In that day and in that time, I will make a branch of justice branch forth to David, and he will make judgment and righteousness upon the earth. In those days, Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will dwell in confidence. And this is the name by which they shall call him—The Lord Our Righteousness.

1 Thessalonians 3.9-13

For how can we give thanks to God again for you, in all the joy with which we joy because of you in the sight of our God night and day, praying above and beyond the usual, that we might see your face, and perfect those things which your faith lacks? But may our God and father himself, and our Lord Jesus Christ, direct our way to you, and may the Lord make you abundant and growing in love toward one another, and toward all, as we toward you, that your hearts may be confirmed, blameless in holiness before our God and father, in the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, with all his holy ones. Amen.

Luke 21.25-36

And there will be signs in the sun and the moon and the stars, and upon the earth distress of the nations, in desperation, as the sea roars and the waves crash; people freezing with fear, and their awaiting what shall come over the globe of the earth; for the powers of heaven shall be displaced, and then they will see the son of man coming upon a cloud with power and great majesty. And when these things shall start to occur, look up, and lift up your heads, for your liberation is at hand.”

And he told them this parable: “Look at the fig tree, and all trees; when they begin to bud, you know that summer is nigh. Thus also you, when you shall see these things occur, know that the kingdom of God is nigh. Amen, I say to you, this generation shall not pass until all things have been done. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words will not pass away.

“And beware for yourselves lest sometime your hearts should be burdened by dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life, and so that day will catch you unawares; for it shall come like a trap upon all who sit upon the face of all the earth. Therefore watch, praying all the time that you may be worthy of fleeing all these things that shall be, and to stand before the son of man.”

And I watched as thrones were put into place, and one who was ancient in days took his seat. His clothes were bright like snow, and the hair of his head was like pure wool; his throne was flames of fire, his wheels the burning of fire, and a fast-flowing river of fire went forth from his face. Thousands of thousands served him, and tens of thousands of hundreds of thousands attended on him; he sat in judgment, and the books were opened.

…

So in a vision by night I watched, and behold, one came with the clouds of the sky, in the appearance of a son of man, and he approached the one ancient in days, and was presented before his face. And he gave him power, and honor, and rule; and all peoples, tribes and tongues served him; his power is an eternal power, which shall not pass from him; and his rule, which shall not be destroyed.

Apocalypse 1.4b-8

Grace to you and peace, from the one who is and who was and who is yet to come, and from the seven spirits who are in the sight of his throne, and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the first-begotten from the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth; who loved us and washed us from our sins in his blood, and made us kings and priests to God and his father; to whom may there be glory and majesty for an age of ages, Amen.

Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye shall see him, and those who pierced him through; and at the sight all the tribes of the earth shall wail. Indeed, Amen!

“I am Alpha and Omega, the A and Z, the start and the end,” says the Lord God, “the one who is, and who was, and who is yet to come; the almighty one.”

John 18.33-37

Then Pilate went again into the praetorium and called Jesus, and said to him, “Are you the king of the Jews?”

Jesus replied, “Do you say this of yourself, or have others told you of me?”

Pilate replied, “I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and chief priests brought you to me. What have you done?”

Jesus replied, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have fought, so that I would not have been handed over to the Jews. But now my kingdom is not from here.”

Then Pilate said to him, “So you are a king, then?”

Jesus replied, “It is you who say that I am a king. I am born into this, and to this end I came into the world, that I may bear the witness of truth. Everyone who is of the truth has heard my voice.”

(“the appearance of a son of man” means he looked like a person, but from this verse the apocalyptic concept of the Messiah has gained the name “the Son of Man”.)

And at that time there will arise Michael, the great prince, who stands for the sons of your people; and there shall begin a time of anguish, such as has never been among the nations until that time. And at that time, your people shall be saved, all who shall be found written in the book. And many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will be awoken, some into eternal life, and some into shame, that they may be always contempted. And those who were taught shall shine as the splendor of the firmament; and those who have taught many to righteousness will be like stars in everlasting eternities.

Hebrews 10.11-25

And indeed every priest attends to the holy things day by day, and offers often the very same sacrificial victims, which can never bear away sins. But he, indeed, offering a single sacrifice for sins forever, sits at God’s right, that which remains awaiting for his enemies to be given him as a stool for his feast. For by a single offering he has rendered those who shall be made holy perfect forever. For also the holy spirit itself shall bear witness to us, when it was said before,

This is the testament which I shall institute
with them after those days, —says the Lord:
I shall give my laws upon their hearts,
and upon their minds I shall inscribe them;
and their sins and iniquity
I shall no further bring to memory.

Now where there is remission of these things, there is no longer an offering for sin.

Therefore, brothers, being that we have the freedom of entering into the holy place in the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way which he has dedicated to us, through the veil—that is to say, by his flesh—and that we have a great priest set over the house of God, we ought to come with true heart in trueness of faith, hearts sprinkled from evil conscience, and bodies washed with pure water. We ought to grasp the confession of hope unwavering—for God, who promised, is faithful—and to consider each other that we may provoke ourselves to love and good works, not deserting the gathering together among ourselves as is the manner of some, but exhorting each other, and so much more now that you see the day approaching.

Mark 13.1-8

And as he left the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Teacher, see such stones and such buildings.”

And Jesus, answering, said to him, “Do you see these great buildings? There shall not be left stone upon stone, which will not be knocked down.”

And as he sat upon the Mount of Olives from the area of the temple, Peter, James, John and Andrew would question him secretly: “Tell us when these things will be? And what is the sign when all these things will be completed?”

And Jesus, answering them, began to say, “See that no one may deceive you. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘It is I’, and will deceive many. And when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be disturbed. For these must be, but this is not yet the end. For one nation will rise up against another nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be earthquakes in various places, and there will be famines and disturbances; these are the start of the pangs.”